Chopin - 27 Etudes [Berezovsky] Berezovsky is brilliant, a true virtuoso, i watched him recently on YouTube, playing Liszt's Trancendental Etudes live, one after another, the sweat pouring off him by the end, very thrilling, i have many sets of Chopin's Etudes, this is actually my second favourite [my first is by Louis Lorte for Chandos], this was a thrilling experience listening to these 27 Etudes today.
Boris Berezovsky is Russian, born in 1969, now 42 years old, he recorded this disc 1991 when he was 22, this disc is now re-issued as an Apex on Teldec, but with a really rubbish cover, this one i scanned here is tremendous, the picture shows Berezovsky in a dark double breasted suit [photo by Susesch Bayat], light blue background, i like the way Teldec use the red pocket handkerchief as the colour code in the lettering, Berezovsky's pose and smile are great, you can see his youthfulness.
The Etudes i really loved on this listen were 1, 4-5, 7-10, 12-13, 16, 18, 21, 23-24 & 27, and it's number 12 [Op10 / 12] that i just thought was pure wizardry, the left hand plays the bass, with legato up and down runs, and the right hand plays the main treble melody, very staccato, written in C Minor and nicknamed the 'Revolutionary Etude' [not by Chopin], it shares the key with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which also has a profoundly revolutionary opening, the right hand is very agitated, the left comes in waves, of speed, volume, and constantly rolling from bass to treble and backs, you can hear the extra anguish and cry from the right hand [0:43-0:50], and also a little later those two hard hitting treble outbursts [1:07 & 1:11], and the solo left hand cascade down the keyboard [1:22-1:30], starting high and loud in the treble, but descending down low into the grumbling bass, i just love that clangy major / sweeter sounding legato outburst in the right hand [1:40], and when the piece quietens down near the end, and the left hand has deep upkeyboard run from deep in the bass [2:19-2:27] and back again, the final ouburst starts off great [2:37-2:47], but Berezovsky could have made it a bit more emphatic with a finality to it, instead it dies quite a soft death, instead of screaming in agony!, it's such a great Etude, i listened to this again and again while writing this.
Here's Boris Berezovsky playing the Revolutionary Etude [Op10 / 12] on YouTube.
